KRIS Meeke has said he “didn’t deserve” to see his 100 per cent winning start to this season’s Portuguese Rally Championship ended by a suspected throttle failure at the weekend’s Rali de Castelo Branco.
The mechanical issue reared its head on the antepenultimate stage – the repeat of the 11.31-mile run over ‘Chão da Vã to Sarzedas’ – costing him well over three minutes and with it the lead.
Prior to the setback the Team Hyundai Portugal driver – and his navigator Stuart Loudon – was in complete control of the event, which was round five of the series and the first pure Tarmac fixture of 2024.
Scratch times on each of Friday’s four stages allowed the 44-year-old to carve out a 16.4 second advantage over the Citroen C3 Rally2 of Jose Pedro Fontes – a theme that continued into Saturday.
On day two, Meeke again reeled off fastest stage time after fastest stage time to pull further clear of his key title rivals, including his Hyundai team-mate and reigning champion, Ricardo Teodosio.
For all the world it appeared as though he would make it five successive wins having triumphed on Rali Serras de Fafe – Felgueiras, Rallye Casinos do Algarve, Rali Terras d’Aboboreira, and May’s Vodafone Rally de Portugal which doubled up as a round of the FIA World Rally Championship.
However, his hard work came to nought on stage nine of 11 of Rali de Castelo Branco before a puncture on the short, event-ending ‘Castelo Branco’ Power Stage added further insult to injury.
“We didn’t have a great end to the rally,” admitted Meeke.
“We had the throttle issue, and then on the Power Stage we picked up a puncture on the very first corner – but some days it is like that.
“I don’t think we deserved this outcome, but what happened is part and parcel of rallying and we have to react in a positive way, particularly as Hyundai’s i20 N Rally2 was again very competitive.“
Of course, I would like to have added another victory for Team Hyundai Portugal on what was the first proper asphalt rally of the season. Still, despite the way things worked out towards the end, for me, it remains satisfying to know we were always faster than our opponents,” he added.
Meeke continues to top the standings despite his low finish, although eventual winner Armindo Araujo has reduced his buffer to eight points as the action moves to Rali Vino da Madeira in August.
